Foliage and fruit in early autumn
Foliage and fruit in early autumn
This name 'Westminster Form' is used here to refer to a type of plane found widely throughout the Inner London area, including particularly in the city of Westminster. Most of the trees are mature, their ages probably 50 years and up to over a century. However there are a few younger ones planted more recently.
Leaves - Medium to dark green, moderately glossy above. They have elongated lobes usually cut two-thirds of the way in, the lobes being always much longer than broad. The central lobe can be narrowed toward its base, producing a rhomboid shape. The outer lobes are often much smaller. Because of this, the tree can give the impression at first glance of having triple-lobed leaves. The leaves remain green in autumn for longer than in other forms, and often drop off while green (in the other forms they tend to become yellow before dropping off).
Shoots and buds - These tend to be moderately thick, and the buds are round and squat, typically 7-9 mm long, 6-8 mm across. The colour is generally purple brown, flushed with green.
Flowers and fruit - Tend to be in clusters of one to three, on longish stalks.
Trunk and bark - The trunk is tall and high; the bark is smooth on younger trees, moderately rugged on the trunks of mature specimens, though the branches will usually continue to have flaking bark.
Crown - Typically this is high and erect. Branches are sinuous and inclined to be pendulous at tips. It is quite similar in its outline to the London Form.
This form does not seem to be very common outside central London. Their size and locations suggests that they mostly date from early 20th century or late 19th century plantings. It has a fine, elegant shape. It is close in many respects to the London Form.
| Place | Description | Location map |
|---|---|---|
| Vauxhall Park, SW8 | Specimen on the west side, by Fentiman Road. | Streetmap |
| Soho Square, W1 | Near, and overhanging the central kiosk. | Streetmap |
| Regent's Park | Mature tree, just north and east of York Bridge, approaching the main entrance to Queen Mary's Garden. Fine specimen with a slight lean. | Streetmap |
| Wandsworth Common | Large mature well formed tree, on green at junction of Burntwood Lane and Sandgate Lane. | Streetmap |
| The maps are from http://www.streetmap.co.uk/. The arrow on the map points to the approximate location of the tree, but it should not be relied on to have accuracy much greater than about 20m. | ||
A young specimen can be seen at Arlington Street, St. James, Westminster.
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19-Feb-2007